From the North Woods, Good morning all:

“I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” — Winston Churchill

This morning I am sharing my first mug with a new-found North Woods friend—Ibu Profen. Twenty or so trips crawling under the cabin had Marcia introduce me to little Ibu. The building and re-building of the piers the place sits on is now well under way. Or so I think. I’ll bring my brothers-in-law over for an expert opinion.

I’d have Marcia give the ‘expert’ critique, but I question her true motive. I am slowly convincing myself that her, “uh-huh, it’s just fine” comments are made just so that she can go back to counting stitches for a new Afghan she is knitting—her third since we got here.

The trees have begun to turn so the winter-to-do preparation folder is out of case. This week it’ll be the start and finish for placing the place in winter hibernation; our second attempt to do it right. Already I have the list committed to memory; docks pulled onto dry land, pontoon trailered and the lower half of the engine drained and repacked; gas stabilizer in all left over gas, water off and lines drained, all outside furniture and stuff stored inside, and shutters on, and etc, etc.

I do want to get at least one more good kayak run in. Earlier this week Marcia and I had a nice long (14 miles) ATV ride. We ended up at a smallish creek draining nearby Pudding Stone Lake. And indeed she found a nice – 25 pound – Pudding Stone which we took back to the cabin. The stone will spend the winter outdoors.

At some point we asked each other if we’d brought anything to ward off Bears since we spotted fresh skat and bear activity all over the place. Especially so since we didn’t see another soul on the whole run and knew of bears having been seen immediately across the cove from us. As Shakespeare once said; “all’s well that ends well.”

I love the way that in Nature everything has a purpose. Marcia and I had been noticing a flock of Red Breasted Merganser ducks that paddle on by on a daily basis. Sometimes they’d just cruise slowly and at other times almost as if running on the water. Curiosity got the better of me and I did some reading. It appears that this is a hunting technique. Mergansers are fish eaters and they will hunt in groups, driving their prey into the shallower shore area by quickly forming an arc or a line and then paddling furiously and flapping their wings.

Then there are people—specifically politicians. Spending an extended period of time in Canada also means that one becomes aware that politically they are as screwed up as we are. Within the last month the top tier of Canada’s eHealth program – hired specifically to clean this group up – were all fired. This week it was the top strata of the Ontario Lottery Commission which all got canned; they apparently lived “high off the hog” on the people’s tax money. You guessed it; they too were brought in to “clean up” that agency.

Maybe they should have all formed a line and just raced about Queen Street in downtown Toronto flapping their arms as a more productive way to spend time and money.

Make it a great week everyone. Wishing a very Happy Birthday to my uncle Joop; who only yesterday celebrated becoming a very young 94. May you enjoy life as much this year as you did this past year. Next week Saturday I will be overly busy and my weekly post might not appear till Monday—my apologies.

Cheers,

Dirk